Van Morrison: No Guru, No Method, No Teacher

I was definitely on time for this one, getting it immediately it came out in 1986. I think it was the third CD I ever bought, after Discipine and The Friends of Mr Cairo, and the first new release I got in the new format.

I listened to it a lot that summer. In the Garden was obviously the centrepiece, with its mystical raptures, its references back to Astral Weeks and its No Guru refrain, which gives the album its title. Whenever I play it I remember an afternoon in a field in Kent, wandering in the sun with this in my head. This is my journal from August 1986:

The next day we [John and I] raced through country lanes in the TR to a pub at Chiddingstone where we met Jeremy, who by this time had Kate with him. After a couple of drinks John left to prepare for his millionaire's party that evening (unfortunately there had been a hitch in his booking of a helicopter). The remaining three of us then went for a picnic in a field in a beautiful spot by a river. Katie and Jeremy didn't join me in exploring the scene more thoroughly — perhaps that was best for everyone — though Jeremy did enjoy a quick dip in the river.

Ah, the '80s. Not even John lives like that any more, though the TR remains a constant in his life.

As Wikipedia notes, the song was a fixture in Van's shows in the late '80s, often coming just before Summertime in England at the pre-encore climax. But I don't buy the claim, referenced by Wikipedia, that it's "based on a form of transcendental meditation". Having been trained in TM, and practising it most days, I can't see any connection at all, unless you count the repetition of No Guru, No Method, No Teacher as a mantra.

I've long had an affection for Van's 1980s material. Each album has a handful of great songs, and few real turkeys. In terms of critical reception, each was greeted as "return to form" and then promptly forgotten so that the next one (they were annual events, not like the three-a-decade release schedules you get now) could be similarly hailed. But, as Van would no doubt say himself, he never went away; just kept churning stuff out. I'm tempted to say that this is one of the best of the decade, but there were a couple that followed it that may be even better.

MusicBrainz entry for this album Wikipedia entry for this album Rate Your Music entry for this album Listen to this album in full at Last.fm

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[WEBSHERIFF]

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Hi MA,

On behalf of Exile Productions and Exile Publishing, many thanks for plugging Van Morrison and, if you / your readers want good quality, non-pirated, preview tracks from Van’s new album – “Keep It Simple” - full versions of "That's Entrainment" and "Behind The Ritual" (along with album track samplers) are available for fans and bloggers to link on Lost Highway's web-site at http://www.losthighwayrecords.com .

Up-to-the-minute info on Keep It Simple and Van’s 2008 shows is, of course, also available on www.vanmorrison.com and www.myspace.com/vanmorrison and, for a limited period, you can still hear Van's exclusive BBC concert at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/radio2_aod.shtml?radio2/r2_vanmorrison and you can also see his BBC sessions at http://www.bbc.co.uk/musictv/vanmorrison/video/ .

Thanks again for your support.

Regards,

WEB SHERIFF

[David]

Blimey!